AP Photo/Charles DharapakSocial Security Administration Commissioner Michael J. Astrue presides over one of the most financially sound areas of the federal government.

What if you knew for certain that you'd have enough income and savings over the next two decades to pay all your expenses, but only three-quarters of your bills in the years after that?

That's essentially the status of our nation's Social Security system.

It's tempting amid headlines of Social Security "going broke" to assume that our nation's safety net won't be around when we retire or become disabled.

Don't believe it.

Social Security is more sound than you think. The potential fixes are many. And Congress would be committing political suicide allowing it to become insolvent, as it almost did nearly 30 years ago before coming up with the robust system we have today.

If you're 46 or younger and want to be ultraconservative planning for retirement, assume your payout will drop 25 percent.

So says Andy Landis, Seattle-based author of "Social Security: The Inside Story." He recently wowed a conference of Portland financial advisers with his knowledge of the system.

"We all need to take a deep breath," says Landis, who once worked for the agency and now runs Thinking Retirement, a speaking and consulting business. "We're not in crisis, but the sooner (lawmakers) act, the better."

He's not alone in his tempered optimism for the retirement system on which about one-third of the nation's elderly rely exclusively for income.

"Social Security remains strong" and "well-funded," wrote the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare shortly after the release late last month of Social Security's annual trustees report.

About the same time, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College called the program's shortfall "manageable." It urged that it be addressed "to restore confidence in the nation's major retirement program and to give people time to adjust to needed changes."

Bottom line: Social Security can pay all benefits it owes until 2033. After that, it can then pay three-quarters of all benefits promised through 2086. Bloomberg TV has far less of a chance of being around by then.

Even if Congress does nothing, nearly all Americans alive and working today can expect to get most of what they're owed.

That is not to say Congress shouldn't do something.

Social Security gets money from a 12.4 percent payroll tax, split equally by employers and workers. In 1983, Congress beefed up reserves, the so-called trust funds, filled with U.S. Treasury bonds that generate billions in interest.

The system's revenues -- its tax income and interest on bonds -- will exceed expenses through 2020. After that, Social Security will have to start selling its bonds to pay benefits. By 2033, the trustees think, it will be out of bonds to sell and will have to rely solely on payroll taxes to pay benefits.

This is not new. The system's health fluctuates. In 1988, the trust funds were projected to last until 2048. In the early '90s, it was thought to deplete as soon as 2029. You don't see a lot of headlines when the trust fund's depletion date extends into the future. But it has.

This current shortfall is completely manageable, the fixes many. How?

Congress collects Social Security tax on income up to $110,100 a year. Anything earned above that is not taxed.

But the share of earnings above that ceiling has gradually increased. In the past, only 10 percent of the nation's income escaped the Social Security tax. Now, 17 percent avoids it.

So, what if Social Security taxed income up to $170,000 a year, so that again only 10 percent of all income escaped it? That move alone would eliminate nearly 40 percent of Social Security's shortfall, according to the Center for Retirement Research.

Another fix: Tax earnings by an additional 2 percent, half of which would be paid by employers. That would solve the problem immediately, experts say.

"The last time Social Security had real problems was in the early '80s," said Max Richtman, president of National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "We weren't talking about 20-plus years of solvency. We were talking about four to six months.

"And they did fix it. And made it sound to 2033."

In fact, a greater concern for Richtman is what he considers to be an inadequate annual cost-of-living adjustment. The adjustment might be only 1.8 percent in 2013, according to the trustees report. That doesn't quite cover the annual cost increase in medical care (3.5 percent) and food (3.3 percent) through March.

You'll spend 10 minutes or so creating your own account, requiring you to track a new user name and password. But it's worth it. Make sure the agency has your earnings history correct. That's key in how it calculates your benefit.

In the meantime, worry less about Social Security. Worry more about making sure you're saving in your 401(k) or IRA. Because most employers no longer provide a pension, exploit their 401(k) match and the tax deduction Congress gives you for IRA contributions. Save early and save often.

Then write your congressional delegation about the wisdom of ensuring all promises are kept, not just through 2033, but for the next 75 years.